warmth

I have a confession to make. I didn’t want to live in this town. I had my heart set on a town in southern Westchester. My priority was walkability of a town; at the time I wasn’t driving so I envisioned walking everywhere. It seemed like the perfect transition to the suburbs from the city as the main street was dotted with cute restaurants and boutiques.

We looked and looked for months and nothing was fitting the bill. We saw a ton of fixer-uppers that were charming but with two young kids the idea of putting sweat equity into a home wasn’t appealing to us. My husband who grew up in the suburbs of Miami came to the conclusion that we needed more property too. He craved more land and privacy.

Luckily one of his colleagues mentioned Chappaqua and on our first trip there up the Taconic we stopped at a gas station with a large convenience store so I could properly fuel up with caffeine before going to see a dozen houses that day. My first impression was “Wow, this kind of reminds me of the Catskills. I don’t know if I can do this.” After all, I grew up in Queens and had lived in the city for ten years.

We must have looked at 60 homes in this town throughout a six-month period and my husband and I could not agree on any of them. Some seemed too large. Others seemed too isolated. I didn’t want to have to scream to my neighbors with a megaphone. But then we found it in the nick of time.

We had decided that last weekend in April on our home search that if we didn’t find a home, we’d put a deposit down for my son for another year of nursery school in the city and stick it out–four people in a cramped two-bedroom apartment.

The minute we saw it, we both knew it was “the one.” It had great natural light, wide spacious rooms. I envisioned the kids running around the large backyard and could picture them growing up there. The large dining room abutted the kitchen and was large enough for my whole family to have holiday dinners. The staircase would one day make a perfect backdrop for prom pictures. We made an offer that afternoon.

This fall, it has been eight years here and I love it. Sure, there have been ups and downs and I’d be lying if I didn’t say it took adjustment- from learning how to drive again to figuring out what the heck an HVAC company is. Home ownership requires maintenance and sometimes we are on our game and other times we’ve let things fall by the way side like our doorbell which hasn’t worked for almost a year. I’m embarrassed to admit it but we’ve been relying on our dog to tell us if someone is at the door.

As the holiday season is right around the corner, I’m reminded of a saying whose author is unknown: “A house is made with walls and beams. A home is made with love and dreams.” As you read articles on holiday recipes and get inspiration for your Thanksgiving table settings, I hope your house is filled with warmth and all your dreams get fulfilled.

Ok, I’m trying to stay positive. Still, it feels good to say ‘so long’ to what has been downright ugly. We have seen the impact of hate mongering and a gun epidemic across America, from the spike in hate and lethal crimes across the board, as was the case with the terror directed toward so many prominent individuals via U.S. mail, and immediately thereafter, the horrific tragedies via gunfire at the Tree of Life Synagogue and at the Thousand Oaks nightclub. Then disaster struck, as we sat back helpless taking in the massive wildfire in California and its accompanying death toll of nearly 90 people with hundreds still missing, And in our backyard, as we went to press, The Inside Press team was saddened to learn that a passionate community campaign to bring Armando Rojas back home, had not succeeded. A saving feeling prevails, however: There is great comfort when we all come together as a community to mourn tragedies and put our heads together on how to make our future brighter for all of us and future generations.

As the publisher of a magazine for communities that are off the charts charitable, I also know that behind all the bad news, there is much that’s positive and promising and beautiful on the landscape for our future, and so we will be keeping our eyes peeled for all that. As we head into 2019, via our team, we’re going to keep bringing what’s ‘beautiful’ in our lives to you, from the ‘Inside’ out, for certain. For our first edition in 16 years of publishing, a March/April 2019 book, please look for our ‘Beautiful’ theme throughout, and get in touch early to ask how you can support us. Please write to grace@insidepress.com.

In the meantime, thank you to all the residents here ‘and beyond’ who read and share stories we work hard to produce. Thank you to all the generous sponsors who support community print and online coverage. Wishing you and our families much warmth and joy and all things beautiful through the holiday season.

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